Siphlophis worontzowi Prado, 1940

Siphlophis worontzowi Prado, 1940 View in CoL

Distribution: Siphlophis worontzowi is known from western Brazil, northern Bolivia, and southern Peru ( Silva, 1993; Prudente et al., 1998; Zaher & Prudente, 1999; Frota et al., 2005; Bernarde & Abe, 2006; Moravec et al., 2009; Costa et al., 2010).

Habitat and time of activity: This small pseudoboine (maximum SVL = 746 mm, male; this study) inhabits forests and open areas, and also disturbed areas ( Silva, 1993; Bernarde, 2004; Bernarde & Abe, 2006; P. Bernarde, unpublished data). Two individuals were found active on the vegetation ( Bernarde, 2004; Bernarde & Abe, 2006) and one on the ground (P. Bernarde, unpublished data). This species is active during the night ( N = 2; Bernarde, 2004; Bernarde & Abe, 2006), and there is one record of an individual active during twilight ( Bernarde, 2004).

Feeding: Siphlophis worontzowi seems to eat mainly lizards ( N = 5, Iphisa elegans ; Prudente et al., 1998; Bernarde & Abe, 2006, 2010; this study), and we also found a frog as prey.

Reproduction: There are no data available regarding S. worontzowi reproduction.

Natural history Summary

The tribe Pseudoboini is very diverse in terms of its natural history. The tribe is comprised of small ( e.g., Drepanoides anomalus , Oxyrhopus doliatus and all the Phimophis ) to large-sized snakes ( e.g., Clelia and Mussurana ). The maximum SVL ranges from 300 mm ( Rodriguesophis chui ) to 2790 mm ( Clelia plumbea ).

We were able to gather information of microhabitat use for 30 species (63%). The majority of species are terrestrial ( e.g., Clelia plumbea , Oxyrhopus clathratus and Pseudoboa coronata ). However, the genera Siphlophis and Drepanoides are composed of semi-arboreal species and the genus Rodriguesophis seems to be composed of fossorial species.

Considering the period of activity, we were able to gather information for 30 species (63%). Most species seem to be active during the night ( e.g., Drepanoides anomalus and Oxyrhopus formosus ), but there are also diurnal species ( e.g., Pseudoboa haasi ) and species that are found active both during the day and night ( e.g., Oxyrhopus giubei and Siphlophis pulcher ).

We gathered dietary information for 33 species (70%). Most pseudoboines seem to be specialized in some sort of prey (one item corresponds to at least 70% of the diet, cf. Martins & Oliveira, 1998). Lizards are the most commonly consumed prey, found in the diet of 29 species (except for Clelia langeri , Pseudoboa martinsi and Rhachidelus brazili ), followed by small mammals (consumed by 20 species) and snakes (consumed by 18 species).

The mean fecundity ranged from two ( Rodriguesophis iglesiasi ) to 29 eggs ( Clelia plumbea ). Species of the genus Clelia are the most fecund (mean clutch size = 10.7), followed by those in the genus Mussurana , Oxyrhopus and Boiruna (mean clutch size = 9.8, 9.6 and 8.6, respectively). On the other hand, the least fecund genus is Drepanoides (mean litter size = 2.3), followed by Rodriguesophis , Phimophis and Rhachidelus (mean litter size = 2, 4.8 and 4.5, respectively).